Newly elected New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has called on FIFA to make a huge change ahead of next summer’s World Cup.
34-year-old democrat Mamdani became New York City’s youngest mayor since 1892 and also became the first Muslim and African-born person to hold the title.
Uganda-born Mamdani fended off calls from President Donald Trump for voters to vote for independent candidate Andrew Cuomo instead of the left-wing candidate.
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, Trump even claimed that “Mamdani is not [capable]” of doing the job.
Advert
And despite Trump’s protestations, Mamdani, with 50.4 percent of the vote, still finished ahead of Cuomo (41.6 percent) and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa (7.1 percent).
So, what does this mean for sports and football in particular?
The US – alongside Canada and Mexico – will play host to the 2026 World Cup between June 11 and July 19, with Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle the cities due to host matches.
The final will take place at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, around an hour’s drive from central New York City.
There have previously been suggestions that the list of host cities in the US could change due to security issues.
But this decision would be made by FIFA rather than politicians like Trump, despite the 79-year-old threatening to “take them [games] away” in cities deemed as unsafe back in October.
“If somebody is doing a bad job and I feel there are unsafe conditions, I would call [Gianni Infantino], the head of FIFA,” Trump said.
“And I would say, ’Let’s move it to another location.’ And he would do that. He wouldn’t love to do it, but he’d do it very easily.”
A month earlier, Mamdani proposed a change to FIFA’s plans ahead of the tournament, but focused on the dynamic pricing policy employed by the body in relation to tickets rather than the location of matches.
The 34-year-old launched the “Game Over Greed” petition and called on FIFA to abandon its plan to use dynamic pricing as well as setting aside 15 percent of tickets for local residents.
Dynamic pricing is where prices are adjusted rapidly and frequently in response to demand, which can see the prices skyrocket ahead of events.
As reported by The Athletic back in September, FIFA has said they expect to make over $3 billion in revenue from ticket sales throughout the tournament, with tickets priced between $60 for group stage matches and up to $6,730 for the most expensive non-hospitality tickets for the final.
“There’s just no chance for so many who love this game so much to actually be able to go and see this,” Mamdani told The Guardian.
“This also has a real impact on the potential for the atmosphere of the World Cup and just how many fans will actually be there. Because so often the people who get the tickets quickest are not the ones who are actually the most eager to be there. They’re the ones who are the most excited at the prospect of a profit.”
Topics: FIFA, Donald Trump, Football
Luke Davies